The Luphomoids originated from a planet called Luphom in the Andromeda Galaxy. They revered military dictatorship, embodying a fierce, martial ethos.
After several technological breakthroughs and numerous conquests to expand their territory, they finally ascended to the ranks of advanced civilizations.
Unfortunately, fate played a cruel joke on them... One day, a nightmarish entity descended, obliterating the Luphomoids' homeland and turning the surrounding star systems into space debris.
"Everyone died, except for a group of clansmen who happened to be away. They survived, but lost the home they depended on, forced to wander in displacement," said the blue-skinned Luphomoid child, seated in a bar in the residential district, his eyes brimming with profound sorrow.
The kid's name was Kirk. His father who was a miner in Knowhere died years ago in a mining accident.
Relying on his skills in repairing power equipment and his own clever wits, this orphaned child had barely scraped by in the lower mining district.
"I occasionally guide outsiders. There's no law here, it's chaotic. I know the intermediaries in the trading center and the black market dealers who buy illegal goods," Kirk looked at Sean who sat across from him listening attentively, and solemnly promised, "Sir, whatever you want to buy or sell, I can help you."
"I want to inquire about some information," Sean said with a faint smile.
Sean had a good impression of this Luphomoid child. He was sharp and sensible, unlike the typical miners in the lower district who only saw outsiders as easy marks, blind to the bigger picture.
Knowhere did see its share of rookie mercenaries each year, or naive newcomers inspired by adventure tales, eagerly venturing into space to experience a different world and thrilling life.
Their usual fates were grim, most ended up swindled by black market dealers into lifelong slave contracts, or stripped clean by the mining vagrants. In worse cases, even their organs were harvested and sold to twisted doctors with special uses.
Unfortunately for those miners, luck wasn't on their side this time... they had encountered Sean, someone who had gravely wounded Thanos, and mistaken the man for a lamb to the slaughter...
"You're different from those short-sighted miners. I'm not a stingy person, as long as you give me satisfactory information," Sean said, waving over a green-skinned Zehobereian who brought a steaming plate of roasted meat ribs.
Sean pushed it toward Kirk, gesturing for him to enjoy it freely.
Kirk glanced cautiously at him, seemingly incredulous. The clients he usually met never showed such kindness. Getting paid what he was owed was already decent, they would never offer him food.
Knowhere was a melting pot of all walks of life, a den of dragons and snakes. Every type of person existed here, except for the genuinely benevolent do-gooder of course.
This was a lesson Kirk had etched into his mind over the years: pies didn't fall from the sky, and if they did, they were surely laced with deadly poison...
"You need to eat your fill to have the energy to run errands for me," Sean said frankly.
He didn't know much about Knowhere, and as for Star-Lord's current whereabouts, he was completely in the dark. Rather than buzzing around like a headless fly, it was better to gather information, collect enough intel, and then decide the next move.
Kirk paused, recalling Sean's cold indifference when he claimed the lives of dozens of miners... He found it hard to reconcile that act with this mild-mannered face. {T/N: As far as I'm aware, there's been no mention of such an incident ever since Sean set foot in Knowhere. So I'm assuming he killed the vagrants that were giving him malicious stares before he met Kirk in the previous chapter...}
"Thank you, sir," after sincerely thanking him, Kirk took a small bite of the fragrant roasted meat.
It's been a while since he'd tasted real food. He subsisted daily on those disgusting nutrient pastes, just enough to keep going. The flavor of succulent meat was something he had nearly forgotten.
"By the way, I'm curious... what did that terrifying creature that destroyed your homeland look like?" Sean asked as he sipped the amber liquid lightly.
This was Knowhere's specialty drink. It tasted similar to vodka, giving of the sensation of a knife slicing down the throat. This fiery beverage called 'wildfire' was a favorite among mercenaries and space pirates, and anything lighter than wildfire was considered to be for sissies.
According to them, real men chugged wildfire in contests! The bar's record was set by an Ariguan, a guy with a crocodile head who downed twelve glasses in one go.
"I don't know, Sir. I never saw what that terrifying being looked like. I only know others called it..." Kirk stopped eating for a moment, deep fear flashing in his eyes as his frail body trembled uncontrollably, "...the Devourer of Worlds."
Sean's brow arched at the name, which involuntarily reminded him of a certain purple-haired girl who had run away from home.
Compared to the adorably cute and gluttonous Gali, her father was infamous, surpassing even Thanos in notoriety.
Galactus was nothing short of a cosmic calamity. He treated whole planets as snacks, leaving desolation in his wake. If not for his activity cycles far exceeding the lifespans of normal civilizations, this ancient entity would likely be the common enemy of all life...
"Alright, I need you to look into someone for me," Sean's thoughts drifted briefly before snapping back to the matter at hand, "He is called Peter Quill, goes by the nickname 'Star-Lord', though most people probably haven't heard of him."
Kirk noted it down earnestly. He knew several information brokers who specialized in such trades.
From the movements of space pirate gangs and large merchant fleets down below, to the strategic secrets of the three great empires up high; everything was for sale in Knowhere.
Information brokering was inherently a clandestine profession, its practitioners often possessed special identities and extensive networks which were not limited to Knowhere.
This typically under-the-table business gained notoriety due to a historic event etched into the annals.
A millennium ago, in the Kree Empire's domain, a newly discovered resource planet was discovered. The intel sold for a staggering twenty billion at the time, with buyer's identity unknown.
However, the Xandarian fleet preemptively occupied the uninhabited planet. By widely accepted planetary colonization principles, the planet should have belonged to the Xandarians after that move.
But the ever-domineering Kree Empire wouldn't have it. They directly sank that Xandarian fleet. No one could have predicted that this conflict would escalate into a millennium-long interstellar war.
Even today, historians believe the thousand-year blood feud between Xandar and the Kree Empire stemmed entirely from that single piece of intelligence.
"While you're at it, keep an ear out for anyone who knows about a planet called Vormir," Sean said, downing the rest of his Wildfire in one gulp, and added softly, "I'll be staying here for a while. I hope you won't disappoint me."
Kirk gnawed the last bit of the roasted rib clean and nodded solemnly, "Sir, I'll definitely find the information you want."